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Serving under and between your legs

My friend did this wierd serve....and now i'm starting to do it to crack people up...

I usually do this in mixed doubles, first you hold the birdy then drop it till it goes under your waist, then you flick the racket under your legs and between them to serve the birdy over the net. I know you can do this shot during a rally, (I do it all the time! ) but is it legal to do it while your serving?

probably the funniest thing is to do some really ridiculous serve (in a tournament mind you) and then have the other guy just stand there thinking that ur just joking... and when it lands in, and you change sides, you get into a huge arguement... haha....

actually, i was curious about this one thing i did when i was playing with my friend....

we were playing, and i made her laugh really hard and she missed the bird... i didn't say anything, it was all because of my crazy movements in an attempt to do some deception.... does that count as a fault on my part?? cuz i did intentionally try to make her laugh =)

Originally posted by Nanashi actually, i was curious about this one thing i did when i was playing with my friend....

we were playing, and i made her laugh really hard and she missed the bird... i didn't say anything, it was all because of my crazy movements in an attempt to do some deception.... does that count as a fault on my part?? cuz i did intentionally try to make her laugh =)

Hmm since it was intentional then I think that's against the rules since you can't like distract the opponent but, what if it's your technique or something e.g. Monica Seles screaming after every hit! LOL!

There's nothing illegal about serving that way as long as you keep to the rules, esp. the one about not interrupting the forward motion of the racquet. You might have the element of surprise going for you at first, but you basically make it harder for you and easier for the receiver. Besides the fact that it would much harder to control than a standard serve, you're hitting from a lower position and from further away from the net than if you contact it out in front of you.

As for doing this in a rally, I knew a very good player from Thailand who returned all smashes hit low to his body this way, and smashes hit to his backside, he returned with a behind-the-back shot. He wasn't clowning around--that's how he always returned these shots.

Like Californian, I think it is a disadvantage to serve between the legs, other than the element of surprise. Unless one has "perfected" the serve, the contact point is way below the 'waist' and therefore the bird will fly in a more acute upward direction, presenting the opponent with a better chance to attack it. Unless the server stands further away from the service line to 'flatten' the flight path, the service will be more defensive than otherwise. Most doubles servers try to serve from as high as possible, not low, to make it harder for the opponent to kill the serve and some of these serves ended up as illegal serves.

I suppose this between the legs serve is not illegal if they are within the framework of the rules. As stated, on the contrary, such serves are more likely to be a disadvantage, especially when used more than once, since your opponent will get wise to it.

Originally posted by jwu hard to imagine how this shot could be an advantage besides surprise factor. whatevers works for you i guess.

Hi jwu

Nice to hear from you. I guess things are working OK with you now. Hope you enjoy your new job and the company of your new colleagues.

I've only returned shots between the legs very rarely but slightly more often from behind my back. Those returns were done usually out of desperation and when I in a tight spot rather than of choice, as in the case of service.

A few years back a kid was not allowed to play in a tournament because he had one arm underdeveloped (polio?). The officials mentioned he possibly would not serve properly since he could not fully use his not racquet arm. And I then asked, was there any rule that stipulates that when serving you have to hold the shuttle with your non-racquet hand?